NHL Analyst Craig Button: No Way Bylsma Should Go

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PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) – The Pittsburgh Penguins have plenty of decisions to make this off-season, and NHL Network analyst Craig Button offers his input to Vinnie & Cook on Sportsradio 93-7 The Fan.

While some question whether Dan Bylsma will be coaching the Penguins next season, Button has no doubts.

“I’ll be very, very clear: I am 100 percent in my mind that there is no way that Dan Bylsma’s coaching position should be questioned in Pittsburgh,” Button says. “They’ve had a lot of different challenges over the past number of years. You start to think about how well that team performed, and how well they integrated some different players into some different roles. They won 15 games in a row. I look at that whole body of work, and I don’t think that a four-game streak…is reason to change a coach.”

With a plethora of key free agents and the salary cap going down, the Penguins will have decisions to make on some of their players as well.

Button puts on his ex-GM’s hat and looks at how he would approach the off-season if he were Ray Shero.

“I have a chance to have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, arguably the two best centers in the world, and I have a Norris Trophy finalist [Letang] in my lineup,” said Button. “I’m taking my chances with those guys and I worry about filling in around them. Those guys are too hard to find, and I’m not letting them go.”